Did Sony plant a fake contestant into "The Tester"?

Mike Luttrell, 8th December 2010

After yesterday's episode of the PlayStation Network reality series The Tester, rumblings are beginning to surface that the big, obnoxious, drama-inducing contestant Big Fazeek wasn't who he appeared to be.

NOTE: Spoiler Alert

Anyone who's been watching The Tester knows that Big Fazeek was completely alienated from the rest of the cast. His constant shouting and tirades made him hated among the entire group, and was the source of nearly all the show's drama.

In yesterday's episode, the contestants competed as teams to perform a relay race of go-kart racing and competitive eating. One team consisted of two skinny girls and a guy, while the other had two overweight guys and a third guy. The competition involved eating, so take a guess as to who had the advantage to begin with.

Yes, the three-guy team won. Big Fazeek was on that team, so he was granted immunity from elimination. After the competition, he started teasing one of the losing girls, leading to a profane exchange between them.

Then, during elimination, the judges decided to bend the rules and get rid of Big Fazeek even though he won the challenge. They got rid of the tormented girl, War Princess, as well.

The show has lit up conversations on the PlayStation Blog, mainly about how Fazeek was axed even though he was "immune."

One user wrote, "Big fazeek was a half doosh but i didn’t think that was right how he got eliminated . Whats the point of winning immunity ???" Another went further, saying, "Big Fazeek should be suing somebody."

But then there's another interesting topic being brought up - the idea that Big Fazeek was a plant, or at least someone who was instructed to induce drama on the show, one of the things Sony hyped it would bring to the new season.

On the official The Tester website, Big Fazeek is the only contestant whose real-life name isn't disclosed. His tone during his post-elimination interview sounded more like he was reading a script than anything with real emotion behind it. And is it possible that someone could seriously be that socially inept?

Because it doesn't air on broadcast TV, The Tester technically is not required to meet the legal standards of other game and reality shows. But no one's suggesting some sort of 1950s game show scandal thing going on here.

If nothing else, Big Fazeek was chosen because the producers probably saw him as an abrasive personality and likely to make for better "TV." Also, because the teams are often picked by the producers, it isn't random.

Nevertheless, we can't forget that the winner of this show gets to win an unrewarding, entry-level job in San Diego. So really, is all of this drama and craziness even worth it? [[PlayStation]]